Utah University Professor of Political Economy Minqi Li

"Well, of course, given the current situation, the world's majority of the environmental movements continue to follow the strategy to persuade the government to reform, to adopt certain measures within the capitalist system, like cap and trade, or some would propose carbon tax as an alternative. But the situation, the reality we are observing right now, is that no matter how hard we are pressing the capitalist government, no matter how hard we are pressing the corporations, the reality is that the emission keep growing each year—except for this year because of the very deep recession, but we cannot have a deep recession every year. And then the basic situation is that if these capitalist countries continue to expand their emissions, and there's no way to get out, and so I would say maybe it's time for the environmental movements to look beyond themselves and to find ways to combine their effort with the effort of the general social movement, to combine their effort with the effort of the world's great majority, the oppressed and exploited. And only with the general participation of the greater majority of the world population, then we have some hope to stop this. I know this is hard, but I don't see any other option."

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4582

Replacing For Rent Signs With Art

via The New York Times:

"As the recession drags on and storefronts across New York remain empty, commercial landlords are turning to an unlikely new class of tenants: artists, who in flusher times tend to get pushed out rather than lured in. And the price of entry is not deep pockets, but vivid imaginations and splashy exhibits — anything to lend their darkened buildings a sense of life.

"On terms that are cut-rate and usually temporary — a few weeks or months — the artist gets a gallery or studio, and the landlord gets a vibrant attraction that may deter crime and draw the next wave of paying tenants."

See, guys? The recession isn't (wasn't?) really that bad! Art and stuff! How cool would it be to use a dentist's office as a gallery? Just ask this guy:

"Lishan Chang, an environmental artist who secured studio space in the former dentist’s office in Jamaica, said the storefront was perfect for his current project, “Accident Realm,” which features the dead raccoons, hawks, opossums, skunks and other creatures he finds along the highways.

“'I need a large sink when I do my taxidermy, and this office has a large sink,' said Mr. Chang, who learned to preserve the carcasses at the National Taiwan University and on YouTube. 'I use chemicals and dentists use chemicals, so it fits.'"

So if you're an artist in living in New York, or any city hit hard by these times of economic crisis, grab all of the commercial spaces that you can before the dentists and American Apparels take them back.